2021 Sustainable Winegrowing Australia regional results

McLaren Vale continues to champion sustainable winegrowing practices as part of a nationally recognised program.

The national Sustainable Winegrowing Australia program results have been collated for the 2021 growing season with McLaren Vale continuing its trend in championing sustainable winegrowing practices.

Sustainable Winegrowing Australia is Australia’s national program for grape growers and winemakers to demonstrate and continuously improve their sustainability in the vineyard and winery through the environmental, social and economic aspects of their businesses.

Building on McLaren Vale’s leadership in sustainability and performance, a further 20 producers completed Australian Wine Industry Standards of Sustainable Practices (AWISSP) certification training in 2021, meeting the requirements to undertake an independent audit for certification. In doing so, audited producers will access added benefits including independent verification, use of a certified trust mark and opportunities to participate in sustainability-related marketing activities.

In addition to an increase in certification training, the program attracted 15 new McLaren Vale members, bringing the tally to 134 total members across 127 vineyard sites across the region.

Wirra Wirra Vineyards Viticulturist, Anton Groffen credits the Sustainable Winegrowing Australia program as a vehicle to provide sustainability assurance to customers.

“With sustainable production underpinning all our operations here at Wirra Wirra Vineyards, the SWA program helps us to capture and report on these operations while challenging us to improve further,” said Mr Groffen.

“Delivering the quality of fruit required for our wines is key, but Sustainable Winegrowing Australia certification gives us further confidence in our environmental, economic and community credentials. With the certification trust-mark now available, we’re assuring sustainability across the business and can easily share these successes with our customer.”

McLaren Vale Grape Wine & Tourism Association General Manager Jennifer Lynch is pleased the Program continues to evolve and grow in significance.

“Sustainability is not linear, nor is there an end-point – it is a continuous evolution towards improving economic, social, cultural and environmental harmony. As a region, we continue to work towards best practice and are committed to supporting our businesses to thrive sustainably, now and into the future," said Ms Lynch.

To read full results, please click here.

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